The present application is based on and claims priority from Japanese Patent Application 2001-263077, filed Aug. 31, 2001, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a headlamp""s optical axis control system for a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a headlamp""s optical axis control system, such as disclosed in JP-B-2950897, the headlamp""s optical axis is controlled to swivel right or left according to the steering angle of a steering wheel. In such a control system, a dead zone is provided at the neutral position of the steering wheel to prevent fluctuation of the optical axis due to play of the steering wheel or due to a minute operation of the steering wheel. Although the optical axis of the head lamp of a car is controlled according to the vehicle speed and steering angle of the steering wheel, a driver may have difficulty when he or she wants to watch an object while driving the car at a curve because the illumination range of the head lamps may not always illuminate the object.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-stated problem.
It is an object of the invention to provide a headlamp""s optical axis control system for a vehicle that can illuminate the object that a driver wants to watch.
According to a feature of the invention, a head lamp""s optical axis control system for a vehicle includes vehicle speed detecting means, steering angle detecting means, driver""s viewpoint calculating means for providing position of a driver""s viewpoint that comes a predetermined time in advance according to the vehicle speed and the steering angle, and control means for controlling the optical axis so that the illumination range covers the driver""s viewpoint. Preferably the control means includes a map and correction means are provided. The map provides standard positions of the driver""s view points that correspond to various vehicle speeds and steering angles, and the correcting means corrects the standard position of the driver""s viewpoint by multiplying the standard position by a prescribed coefficient proportional to the vehicle speed or steering angle if the vehicle speed or the steering angle is different from the speed or steering angle that corresponds to the standard position.